Apple has posted its Q4 earnings for the fiscal year this evening, revealing that revenues are down 9% for the quarter.
The tech giant revealed that it $9.01 billion in net income, or $1.67 in earnings per share, on $46.9 billion in revenue in Q4 of its 2016 fiscal year, ending September 24. This was down from $51.50 billion last year.
Apple met its Q4 predictions of $45.5-$47.5 billion for the quarter.
However, the results show that this is the first time since 2001 that the firm’s revenue for the full fiscal year — $215.6 billion — is lower than the previous fiscal year. The prior year it was $233.7 billion.
A significant factor in Apple’s Q4 earnings was its dip in iPhone sales, which fell 13% year-on-year. 45.5 million units were sold, resulting in $28.1 billion in sales.
Meanwhile, it was a strong quarter for Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud, with Apple’s Services revenue up 24%, bringing in revenues of $6.3bn.
“Our strong September quarter results cap a very successful fiscal 2016 for Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re thrilled with the customer response to iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and Apple Watch Series 2, as well as the incredible momentum of our Services business, where revenue grew 24 percent to set another all-time record.”
“We are pleased to have generated $16.1 billion in operating cash flow, a new record for the September quarter,” added Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “We also returned $9.3 billion to investors through dividends and share repurchases during the quarter and have now completed over $186 billion of our capital return programme.”
Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2017 first quarter:
• revenue between $76 billion and $78 billion
• gross margin between 38 percent and 38.5 percent
• operating expenses between $6.9 billion and $7 billion\
• other income/(expense) of $400 million
• tax rate of 26 percent
Apple’s board of directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.57 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on November 10, 2016 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 7, 2016.
